Mihai Corneliu Drăgănescu (October 6, 1929 – May 28, 2010) was a
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n engineer who served as President of the
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life.
According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...
Prahova County
Prahova County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești.
Demographics
In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/k ...
, he received a B.Sc. in 1952 and a Ph.D. in 1957 from
Politehnica University of Bucharest
Politehnica University of Bucharest () is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania founded in 1818.member of the Romanian Academy, rising to titular member in January 1990, following the
Romanian Revolution
The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...
. Later that year, he became the academy's president, serving until 1994 and initiating its transition into the post-communist environment. In the first cabinet of
Petre Roman
Petre Roman (; born 22 July 1946) is a Romanian engineer and politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 1989 to 1991, when his Third Roman cabinet, government was overthrown by the Mineriad, intervention of the miners led by Miron Cozma ...
, in 1989–1990, he was a deputy
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
. He co-authored several publications with Menas Kafatos, including the book ''Principles of Integrative Science'' (Editura Tehnică, 2003).
In 1971, he was made a commander of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
, attaining the same rank in the
Order of the Star of Romania
The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...
in 2000. He is buried at Bellu Cemetery.
The Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of the Romanian Academy, set up in 1994, is named after him.
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life.
According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...